The fastest speed a boat is known to have attained was an impressive 317.6 miles per hour (or 511 kilometers per hour). You probably won’t get there — and you might not even be aiming to — but if you are frustrated that you can’t get your boat to go quite as fast as you would like, you can make it happen, right?
Yes, you can! If you’re wondering how to make your boat faster, you have a wide range of options to explore, in fact. Together, they can make a significant difference.
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What Do You Need to Consider Before You Make Your Boat Faster?
Deciding how fast is too fast is tricky on a boat — it’s not like you’ve got clearly-defined speed limits, nicely laid out with road signs, to work with. Your boat isn’t a car. In most cases, there actually won’t be any speed limits, but you’ll want to be careful in “no wake” areas. This restriction will be established in places where going faster (and specifically, making waves) will place small boats at risk. They include:
- Areas where you are surrounded by lots of other boats, including small boats. This usually includes popular lakes.
- Docks.
- Piers.
- Bridges.
- Canals.
- Ports.
Outside of those areas, boaters are not likely to be facing any speed limits. They do, however, have to consider their own safety. You also have to think of your goal. Most recreational boaters are looking for, well, recreation — and taking things slowly is an integral part of relaxing! If you’re craving faster speeds, though, you won’t just reap the benefits in the form of an exciting boat ride. You’ll also, obviously, be able to arrive at your destinations more quickly.
How Fast Are Boats?
Most recreational boats can achieve speeds of 10 to 40 miles per hour. Speed boats can, on the other hand, reach 100 mph. The average speed of a boat depends on the type of boat, of course:
- Sailboats can generally reach speeds of eight miles per hour, with 12 miles per hour being the upper end of the capacity of these boats.
- The average speed for pontoons ranges from 15 to 30 miles per hour, but these boats can be as fast as 35 miles per hour.
- Jetboats can reach anywhere from 30 to 40 miles per hour.
- Famously fast boats include cigarette boats, which can be as fast as 150 miles per hour and have an average speed of 100 miles per hour, and racing boats, which often boast speeds of 150 to 200 miles per hour.
Other factors that determine the speed of a boat include:
- The overall length of the boat — a 100 feet long boat will, on average, be 2.7 times as fast as a 16 foot boat. This will give you an 9.6 extra miles per hour.
- The hull type of a boat also has a very significant impact on the speed you will be able to achieve. A planing hull is ideal for boaters who place a premium on speed.
- It should go without saying that the wind speed and direction, both factors ultimately beyond your control, likewise influence the speed of a boat.
The moral of the story? If you’re still boat hunting and have not yet decided what type of boat is right for you, but you’d like your boat to go fast, choosing a type of boat that can reach higher speeds from the get-go is a solid approach.
If you already have a boat, you will almost certainly be able to take steps to make it go faster. Let’s take a look at the most common techniques boaters use to achieve higher speeds.
Cutting Down on Your Boat’s Weight to Make Your Boat Go Faster
Reducing the weight of your boat will give it a nice speed boost — and, in fact, one that can be a lot more significant than you might expect. If you would like your boat to be faster and you are not sure whether you are willing to invest in costly upgrades, yet, analyzing how you can lighten the load is simultaneously the simplest and cheapest way to make your boat faster.
You don’t need to rip out furniture, to start with — just see what you’re carrying that you don’t need to have on board, to start off with. Have you heard of the KonMari method, which has risen to fame in recent years and gained popularity not just among hoarders, but also among ordinary folks who just want to live an organized, peaceful, and clutter-free life? That’ll work here, too, with the extra bonus that your boat won’t just look nicer, but also go faster.
If you want to do it right, get everything that isn’t literally part of the boat out. Piled up like that, you’ll more easily be able to see what you actually need, what you simply want (set that aside for a moment), and what you immediately know does not have to stay on board.
None of the individual little items — including extra fishing rods and coolers, for instance — will slow you down significantly, but together, they can really weigh you down. Get that stuff off your boat and enjoy at least a modest speed boost.
Blueprinting Your Boat for Extra Speed
Are you ready and willing to go “the extra mile” (why, yes, pun most certainly intended!) to make your boat faster, but you don’t want to mess with the engine? In that case, you may want to look into having your boat blueprinted. Just about any boat could benefit from blueprinting to increase its performance, and the process essentially amounts to restoring the boat’s hull to its original, tip-top, condition to ensure optimum hydrodynamics, which equals increased speed.
Here’s how the hull blueprinting process works:
- Take your boat out of the water. Thoroughly clean the hull (after inspecting its integrity). This will allow you to get a good look at the hull later, but also opens the door for speed gains all on its own. Did you know, for instance, that even minor algae accumulation can slow you down by as much as four miles per hour? Cleaning your boat regularly pays off! (Not just in terms of speed, but literally, too, because you’ll have to spend less on fuel.)
- Once the hull is fully clean, you will be able to get a good look at any flaws it mat have acquired along the way. These imperfections can include scratches, nicks, and gouges, and no matter how small they are, they can slow your boat down. These small issues will have to be repaired if you are after a faster boat.
- With the help of a long straight edge, see if the running surface is true.
To elaborate further on that last part, when the aft section of your boat is angled downward, this is referred to as a “hook”. You may notice a gap under your straight edge in this case. The opposite scenario would be a “rocker”, which causes the bottom of your boat to round out in the aft section.
You will lose speed in both cases. The best course of action in this situation is to take your boat to a fiberglass repair shop. Once a boat no longer has a hook or a rocker, you will gain a considerable amount of speed — your boat will be up to 5 miles per hour faster than before, and as much as 10 miles per hour in the case of high performance speed boats.
Once the process is done, avid boaters may want to consider having a ceramic coating added to their hull to maintain the gains they’ve made, and protect their boats from damage.
Supercharging Your Boat’s Engine to Gain Speed
Are you a certified speed junkie? Do you want your boat to be as fast as possible, and are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve the highest speed? In that case, adding a supercharger to your boat’s engine will definitely be on your agenda. The gains you can expect by adding a supercharger are impressive, and easily reach 10 miles per hour.
The obvious cons? If your engine is still under warranty, that warranty will be void. Your boat may also become less reliable than it was before. You will, on the other hand, definitely get what you came for — a boat that doesn’t go a little faster, but a lot.
Some popular superchargers include:
- MerCruiser 350 Mag MPI (Whipple Industries), which case increase your horsepower by 50 percent.
- 496 Mag and Mag HO ProCharger Systems, which also offer a 40 to 50 percent horsepower increase.
- Custom ProCharger systems!
Adding a supercharger to your boat’s engine will, simply said, feed it more compressed air, and allow it to use additional fuel, which will result in serious speed gains. Ready-made supercharging kits come with nearly everything you need to complete this upgrade to your boat. That includes a recalibrated Engine Control Module (ECM). A medium duty oil cooler should also be installed. No structural changes will need to be made, because bolting a supercharger to your boat engine only requires a few extra inches of forward space.
After you supercharge your boat’s engine, you’re not done — you will need to commit to a new propeller as well.
Changing Propellers to Increase Your Boat’s Speed
Having a new propeller installed is a guaranteed way to make your boat faster — and this serious commitment can be made in isolation, or in combination with bolting a supercharger to your boat’s engine for top performance. It’s also one of the simpler steps you can take to make your boat faster.
Does your boat currently operate with an aluminum propeller? Switching that out for a stainless steel propeller will in itself make your boat go much faster. That’s because stainless steel, being so much stronger than aluminum, can also be thinner. This slashes drag and adds speed. Alloys that are even stronger than stainless steel are also on the market, however, and one example would be the Mercury Enertia prop, which enables the blades to cut through the water like a sharp knife through warm butter. This fairly expensive step can increase the speed of your boat by up to five miles per hour! Sounds good, right?
Changing propeller pitch — akin to changing gears — is another way to make your boat faster if you already have a stainless steel propeller. Have your propeller tuned professionally and enjoy a speed boost of around two miles per hour.
Reflashing Your Boat’s ECM for Additional Speed
Does your boat use a fuel-injected engine? Are you hoping to make your boat go faster without committing to a serious investment, in one single step? Is ensuring reliable performance a top priority for you? If you can answer “yes” to all of these questions, having your ECM reflashed is an option you should seriously consider.
Your boat’s Engine Control Module acts as the brains of the entire operation, and by having it upgraded and tuned, you can affect fuel usage, airflow to the engine, and timing and spark. The price tag associated with having your boat’s ECM reflashed won’t exceed that of a stainless steel propeller, but this choice does come with some risks:
- Your engine’s warranty will, where applicable, be null and void. That’s a sacrifice you have to be willing to make.
- Because your RMP will go up, reflashing the ECM may well force you to also opt for a bigger propeller.
- The drive train will be rendered less durable.
Is reflashing your ECM worth it? That depends on your goal. If you’re looking to relax on your boat, the answer is going to be “probably not”, but hey, you did ask how to make your boat faster, and reflashing your ECM is certainly a way to achieve that! Your net gain? Count on about two miles per hour.
Installing a Jack Plate on Your Boat to Increase Your Speed
Having an outboard jack plate installed allows boaters to control the height of the engine on the transom, and it is placed between the transom of the hull and the outboard engine of a boat. By installing a jack plate and raising it, you will ensure that the total volume of your outboard motor present in the water is reduced. That makes your boat faster because there will be less drag.
Various styles and shapes of jack plates exist. All in all, mounting a jack plate to your outboard motor may be able to give you an additional two to seven miles per hour. Your commitment will not end with the jack plate, however, as you will also need to have water intakes placed on the nose cone of your outboard engine.
Avoiding Over-Trimming Your Boat
Trimming your boat appropriately will boost the boat’s overall performance and lead to fuel savings. In case you are not sure what trim means, it refers simply to the boat’s running angle — to the process of raising or and lowering the boat’s bow. Trimming your boat leads to a reduction in the hull’s wetted surface, and will therefore increase the speed of the boat. That’s good.
Over-trimming will, on the other hand, cause a situation in which the boat’s propeller approaches the surface of the water, which leads to all sorts of complications that can all culminate in a loss of speed. Over-trimming is bad if you want your boat to be as fast as possible, and it’s also easy to do. To avoid over-trimming, adjust your trim very slowly and listen out for tell-tale signs that you are overdoing it — like pitch changes and speed reductions.
How to Make Your Boat Go Faster: Additional Tips and Final Words
We have examined seven ways to make your boat faster:
- Reducing your boat’s weight by removing cargo you do not need to carry — this is the simplest step, and also the one that will lead to the smallest net gain in speed.
- Having your boat blueprinted, a relatively non-invasive decision that can help you pick up a nice extra miles per hour as well as ensuring that your boat remains well-maintained.
- Considering having your boat’s engine supercharged — not an easy decision, as you will almost certainly have to upgrade your propeller as well, but easily the upgrade that will increase the speed of your boat most significantly.
- Changing your boat’s propeller, a step that requires expert consultation and that can make a big difference all on its own.
- Having your boat’s ECM reflashed.
- Having a jack plate installed on your boat’s outboard engine.
- Making sure that you are not over-trimming.
Together, these steps can lead to speed increases of 15 miles per hour or more! Where in doubt, ask for help and advice. Consider each step carefully before committing!
